Gatchaman VS the Blob
by Jenny Lambert
Summary: The title pretty much sums it up


GATCHAMAN VS. THE BLOB

  
  
  
  


Mechanical arms carefully picked up the cylinder, moving it to the diagnostics table. At it's controls a white robed Galactor scientist had a very grim, intense look. Beads of a cold sweat formed on his forehead as he thought, "Just one slip and we're in for it. How could Katse have accepted this organism from Sosai X? It's just too horrible!"

  
  


The computer-enhanced arm gently deposited it without incident. Powerful scanners lowered from the ceiling to do its job. Readouts flashed on the screen. The doctor looked at readouts periodically, but mostly stared with awful fascination at the wriggling red amoeba, that pushed and strained at its confines in the cylinder. 

  
  


They had a running idea from Sosai X on what this baby could do, and just contemplating it made the Galactor sick. "This is too terrible to release on Earth! It must be stopped! I've wanted out of Galactor for the longest. Now is as good a time as any to come clean with ISO."

  
  


Exposing this monstrosity should surely be enough to buy him immunity for his war crimes. Assured that the diligent computer had everything under control, he left to a secure place to call ISO and turn himself and Galactor in.

  
  


************

  
  


Nambu hung up the phone with Director Anderson, his main comment being "Hmph". It did warrant investigation though. Only problem being 99% of the team was away on down time. That left only Joe on duty, since he preferred to take his down time next month for a huge race.

  
  


He hit the signal for G-2, "Joe, I need a favor." 

  
  


************

  
  


There was only one small glitch in the computer, just one missing movement of the arm. The cylinder upended and it was loose, hungry. It oozed under the lab door's thin opening. It eagerly found the doctor's leg. Screams echoed down the corridor. An hour later all hell broke loose, as the creature ate, and grew, and ate some more.

  
  


Joe stopped G-2 just short of where the rendezvous with the doctor was. A place that overlooked a dangerous cliff outcropping over the ocean below. To kill the time, Joe watched the play of waves against the rocks below, admiring the white foam that frothed and bubbled like a Jacuzzi. He had just enough distance from the Galactor lab with his car to be undetected. In the distance, he could hear gunshots and running, screams, some in pain and in horror, others in confusion. 

  
  


"He's been found out!' 

  
  


Joe turned, prepared to rescue the would be Galactor traitor. He was anticipating seeing a running, terrified doctor chased by angry guards around the curve in the road. Instead, wide eyed, panicked Galactors stopped just short of him. They recognized him as Gatchaman, seeing him in bird mode, looked at his gun, and looked behind them. Most threw their arms up in the air, showing their intent at non-hostilities and ran quickly past him, totally blowing his mind. 

  
  


"The doctor's chasing them?!"

  
  


Still, other more fanatic guards, who never knew when to leave well enough alone, thought to do their duty and take him down for the glory of Galactor. Joe prepared to cut loose, but suddenly something else did! A flash of red, jelly-like and tenticled, whiplashed around the curve, firmly attaching itself to the backs of the three closest Galactors. Their faces were an instant mask of mixed pain and horror, as they were snapped back around the curve.

  
  


The other Galactors scrambled in terror. Joe looked up at the cliff, and saw it oozing downwards from the cliff, and around it's bend. It was everywhere! It had no form to speak of, red as fire and blood. Inside was just transparent and opaque, enough to reveal half dissolving Galactors inside. Somewhere between Dante's Inferno and a Freddy Kruger movie. So unreal in its incredibility and very real in it's scope. One strand scooped close to him, catching a fleeing Galactor in the face. Joe watched horrified as the skin began to sizzle and melt, and literally, first skin, then muscle and bone, be pulled into the tendril, and the tendril retracting, pulling the spasming body into the main mass.

  
  


Backing away from it, firing the automatic pistol kept behind him covered by his cape, he watched it merely absorb and dissolve the bullets. He took his air gun from his hip, and shot it out at the creature, sending an electrical charge up the cable into it. The creature remained unfazed. Joe felt it tug powerfully at the cable, nearly pulling him up and into it. Joe quickly let go, and half-flew, half-somersaulted to his car, getting in quickly. Just in time too, as the whole of the nightmarish creature threw it's bulk onto the car. 

  
  


The very impact pushed G-2 sideways, closer to the edge of the road, and the 30 foot drop that awaited. The roof began to cave inward, as did the doors. Joe was flabbergasted. "That's impossible!" 

  
  


The car was reinforced with a metal alloy that had a high resistance to immense pressure. Nothing short of a major bomb should even be able to dent his G-2. Joe hit the gas, and tried to jerk the car away from it, in reverse, forward, nothing! The powerful G-2 engines whined in futile protest. Slowly creature and car gave way over the edge, both dropping into the waiting ocean.

  
  


Still, the creature pushed to get in. The windows were beginning to sizzle from its acid discharges. Joe's head hit the back window with a solid thud. He fought the accompanying dizziness, trying to stay alert. He hit the emergency bird scramble code on his transponder band, hoping that vacation or not, someone was paying attention at the other end.

  
  


A flash of red caught his eyes as they went underwater. There, through the air conditioning vents, he could see the tendrils of it coming in. He saw enough to know he couldn't let it touch him. Frantically he tried to close the vents, and hit the air conditioning controls instead, turning it on. The tendrils recoiled immediately! 

  
  


Too terrified though to connect the two events, Joe curled into the seat sideways, away from the windows and vents. From the back, where the car opened to allow exiting onto the Phoenix, he could see more of it coming through. His gut clenched in fear! At the window, the face of a suffering, yet still alive, though quickly asphyxiating Galactor appeared. He watched the man's horrible dissolution, and felt his mind snapping. It was coming in, along with a rush of ocean salt water, cold and chilling! His last coherent thought was to completely seal the helmet masks. Lower glass faceplate came up to meet the beak-like top plate and formed a seal. 

  
  


In an effort to curl as far away from the closest tendril, in an almost fetal position, his arm hit hard against metal. The fire extinguisher he impacted against ruptured, and ice burning and numbing foam filled the already cold sea water, turning the inside of the car into a veritable freezer. Faster than lightning, the creature withdrew! Darkness and confusion were left in its wake, as the car descended to the ocean floor. 

  
  


The bird helmet would provide only an hour's worth of oxygen. If help didn't arrive soon, he'd be toast! There was no getting out of the car, as the doors and back end were permanently caved inwards, like a crushed pop can. Joe's mind was not on any of this though. His mind was busy shutting it out. He'd been unconsciously screaming the whole attack, but now was wordless. The skin exposed on his face and even under the protective suit was freeze burned by the CO2, but he didn't register it. He registered only the creature, and in defense, his mind was quickly reacting to block it out. His eyes closed, as body temperature radically reduced in the cold, and shock, both physical and mental, took over.

  
  


************

  
  


Ken was the first to respond, flying in his jet over the water where the signal was traced. He saw nothing, no signs of Galactor, or Joe. But the signal was close! To the beam of him he could see the Phoenix approach.

  
  


"Ryu, I 'm tracking his signal here but I don't get it! The place is abandoned! The lab looks empty. No one on the cliff here! According to radar, G-2 is in this area, but I don't see it!"

  
  


"Ken, this is Jun. The Phoenix radar confirms it. He's here somewhere."

  
  


"I'm going to link up. Let's take the Phoenix underwater then."

  
  


************

  
  


As the Phoenix descended deeper, Ken was the first to see the demolished G-2 on the bottom. The top roof was concave, front end pushed inwards to the middle. Both doors were also sunken in. It looked as if a garbage compactor got a hold of it. He could see the lack of windows and the ocean water inside, and got out of his seat quickly, grabbing a wet suit from a nearby compartment.

  
  


As he got in position to the ship's lower hatches, he swam fast to the car. Inside, he was relieved to see the helmet's shields completely closed, and if erratic and rapid, at least Joe's chest was moving up and down. He was still alive. It took some serious maneuvering through the twisted metal of the car to pry Joe out of there, and swim awkwardly with him back to the ship.

  
  


************

  
  


His eyelids fluttered, then closed tight against the bright hospital lights. An unnamable panic gripped him and he bolted upright, hugging himself into a fetal position. His arms hurt terribly, as did his face. He saw the gauze wrapped around him, and the IV lines, and felt tubing up his nose. He registered as much that he was in a hospital, but that was it, his mind drew a blank. Joe knew he was very scared, but he couldn't understand why. He tried to speak, but couldn't find his voice. Panic filled him, then, a strong but gentle arm eased him back down, and he looked at the reassuring blues of Ken's eyes staring back at him. 

  
  


"It's alright, Joe, you're back here at Crescent City. You're safe." 

  
  


He tried to answer Ken, but to his amazement, there were no words, no voice. It was like it had quit working all together. 

  
  


"Joe, what is it?!" 

  
  


One hand clutched his throat, as he again tried to get even a whisper out. Nothing. His nerves felt shattered, and he was confused. He tried to remember, and nothing came but more confusion and panic. His eyes must have reflected it, as Ken suddenly just held him. He sobbed soundlessly, feeling Ken's arms tighten. Someone came in, and he felt a stinging in his arm. Looking wordlessly at the hypodermic, he felt himself relaxing and becoming drowsy, fell asleep, barely aware of Ken's rocking him.

  
  


When he awoke again, he was more under control, though remembering still brought blackness and a wall that, try as he might, he couldn't see past. He looked over to his left and saw Ken, his eyes closed and napping. He looked at the wall, saw 3:00 AM. He cautiously tried to call out, but again, no voice, nothing. "Where's my voice?" he thought. He stared around at the darkened room. For some reason, he kept nervously glancing at the hospital's air conditioning vents. Why, he had no clue. 

  
  


Wanting to awaken Ken but fighting the urge, seeing the circles under his eyes, he closed his own, trying to sleep. But the not remembering and nameless fear churned inside him, and his restless turning and tossing about succeeded in rousing Ken anyway. He couldn't prevent the shaking or trembling. He was cold, even though the room was hot. He was afraid, but more so, because he couldn't remember why, or how he ended up in the hospital to begin with. He was exhausted, yet wired at the same time. 

  
  


Ken quietly crawled in next to him, saying "Shhh. Close your eyes and sleep. There's time enough to remember. Don't try now. The voice will come back. Nambu says it's nothing physical, just shock."

  
  


Within moments, the soft hold and Ken's half-snoring breaths, the warmth his body gave, Joe's nerves slowly untightened, and again, he fell asleep calmer. 

  
  


************

  
  


Days and nights passed that way. Mostly he was drugged and asleep. His body, under experimental ointments, was healing rapidly from the burns. Still, he had no voice or memory, despite careful questions and prompting by Nambu. He was ready for discharge.

  
  


He and Ken stared at the disaster that was G-2. It brought no memories back, but a rage at the sight of his precious car, twisted and compacted like it was. Ken put an arm around him, and half jokingly to relieve the tension 

  
  


"I'll say it for you. K'so!" 

  
  


He merely shook his head. So what happened, Galactor? He wished he could remember, or at the very least, learn the cause of this nameless terror he felt. He'd even settle for just being able to speak. It was annoying writing everything down, or resorting to sign, which was absolutely one of his worst subjects during the highly specialized training each had received. 

  
  


"This doesn't trigger anything?" Ken looked at Joe's scowl, "Other than anger?" Joe shook his head. He was frustrated! You'd think he'd remember an accident that could do this to his car. He was tired of being asked. Long sessions with Nambu, ISO head shrinks, and agents, not to mention Ken, who had the tenacity of a bulldog. 

  
  


Later at the Snack J, he toyed with his food. He stared morosely at the counter. Ken finally left him alone for a while. At first he was glad to have him at his side, especially after each of the vague but horrible nightmares that he couldn't shake. But Ken's presence was also becoming oppressive. Like a constant wet nurse and nag. Jun came over and stared at the basically untouched plate. 

  
  


"Joe. If your appetite doesn't get any better, you're going to be skinner than Jinpei!" 

  
  


He shrugged and nudged the plate towards her. "You've got to eat something! How about some jello? I've made some fresh. It's not much by the way of nutrients, but at least it has some sugar in it. We won't have to worry about you getting all hypoglycemic or anything."

  
  


That did sound somewhat refreshing. He nodded, and she left to get it. His eyes roamed around the deserted snack bar. At each nook and corner that was shadowed, he felt a sense of dread. He couldn't resist having his eyes pulled especially to the vents in the ceiling. 

  
  


Jun returned, and set the bowl, filled with jiggling red jello, in front of him. For a few seconds, he just stared mutely at it. Then, inexplicably, a knot formed inside him, and for some reason, that irritating panic sensation took over. He could never in a million year explain, on hindsight, why he did it, and aggravatingly couldn't even voice an apology because of it. 

  
  


His hand hit at the dish, sending it flying to the back wall, where it shattered. The bowl's contents covered the wall, the counter, and, unfortunately, Jun's hair. She stared dumbfounded at him with wide eyes and mouth open. The sight of her with that stuff oozing down from her hair flipped him out even more. Never before had he been prone to hysterics. Hell, it took a lot to scare him! So whatever happened now had an irrational hold over him. 

  
  


Fortunately, Ryu came in and saw what happened. Joe had totally went berserk and was smashing dishes, knocking over bar stools, and backing away from a very distraught Jun, looking at her like she was some frightening ogre. He backed into Ryu, who got a bear hug on him, and held him fast, while Jun went to call Nambu. 

  
  


************

  
  


Meanwhile, at a nearby town, not too far from where the Galactor lab was, a very flustered local sheriff dealt with his own mob of hysterical citizens. People were disappearing left and right, and under very mysterious circumstances. Friends and family were clamoring at his small jail, a very 'Mayberryish' place, demanding answers. He had none. A few he could explain away. The town drunk, the husband with the roving eyes, the rebellious and chronic runaway teen, but the banker, the old man Grissom? This was getting out of hand! At first there was no physical evidence, but now they were finding exploded water faucets in kitchens, overturned manhole covers, upended and crushed cars, overturned furniture, as if a mad scramble was made to escape some….thing.

  
  


Finally, two men in red suits flashing ISO badges and government ID's cut through the crowd, identifying themselves as Red Impulse. He called ISO, being at his wit's end. He told them all he knew, which wasn't enough, but even so, had goose pimples being raised on their arms. Kentaro nodded. He saw the frustrated and fearful eyes of the frantic crowd. Whatever Galactor had at that lab, which was also found in similar disarray as the city was, was certainly terrible. Terrible enough to make the doctor who called ISO want to turn himself in, and to have the courage to do so. Especially, when traitors to Galactor tended to meet untimely deaths. 

  
  


As he left he eyed one car hooked to a tow truck, that the sheriff had said belonged to the missing banker. It wasn't as bad as the G-2 vehicle, but whatever had wanted in didn't have to go to as much effort getting in either. Still, it was the same M.O. The doors concave, dissolved windows, no body found, no blood. Strange. Maybe another talk to Condor Joe was in order. That too, was strange. Any brief exposure he'd had to his son's second in command left him with the impression that the kid was tough and unshakable. Whatever attacked him was enough to leave him mute, with a complete memory block and bouts of anxiety. Still, they had to keep pressing for answers. Time was apparently running out. People were disappearing, if not altogether dead! They needed something to go on.

  
  


************

  
  


Joe felt better, calmer. Of course a hefty dose of Valium might have had a little to do with that. He looked again at Jun, apologetically. She passed the whole thing off, with joked comments about Jello. But he knew he had totally freaked her out. Hell, he was freaked out! Why can't I remember? 

  
  


Ken was again at his side. "Great" Joe thought, "Now he'll never leave!" It was reassuring but still annoying. He wanted him to stay, but at the same time, he preferred less coddling. 

  
  


"If this keeps up I'm going to end up a junkie." he thought as Nambu came in with another hypodermic. Apparently, the shrinks thought that he should now have something called Ativan every six hours.

  
  


"You feel like talking to Red Impulse again?" 

  
  


Joe shook his head. "What's the point?" he signed. "I can't remember any more than I did yesterday when they gave me"…he thought about the sign for a while…for third degree, and ended up making a rude gesture as if to say "Aw, hell!"

  
  


In they walked dressed totally in red flight suits. Previously they were in civvies, but today they were dressed for action. Again the leader, who they all knew only as the "captain", was accompanied by the quiet, mute, Onishi, who lost his voice in a post traumatic syndrome, similar to Joe's, and who was very adept at sign.

  
  


Something today about them was making him vaguely uncomfortable. Maybe the Ativan was a good thing after all because the calm feeling the Valium gave was beginning to wear off. He squirmed around in the bed edging slightly away from them. Once again why was anybody's guess, let his own. The Captain started out routine, no pleasantries.

  
  


"Do you remember anything yet? About the rendezvous, the car…what happened? What freaked you out today?"

  
  


Again Joe signed no, no, and no again. He shook his head, made a few terse comments, which, since this sign thing was getting harder with the doped up feeling he was getting again, lost something in the translation. Onishi was all set to type his response on a keyboard but didn't bother with his last comment. Though he did wink and nod in sympathetic understanding.

  
  


The same old unanswerable questions and just something about them in general was causing that mysterious knot in the pit of his stomach again. Drugged sensation or not, he was getting restless. The captain's movements kept flashing red in front of his eyes. Red. Flashes of memory about red hit him. Something red. The Jello was red. Maybe that's why I freaked out. The red suits. Something red. He tried hard to remember, if only to get these men in their red suits out of here. Panic was beginning to seize him. Red. It was red, but what was it? 

  
  


He signed "RED" a few times. Onishi looked puzzled. Joe signed rudely, "What part of red is confusing you?" Damn! If this kept up he was going to end up proficient in sign anyway!

  
  


He must be feeling a little more himself, because he was getting angry. He was also getting very perturbed at the Captain's flashing red arm. "If it flashes one more time at me I'm very likely to hit him." 

  
  


As the Captain asked again for the millionth time, "What do you remember about this?" the arm again gestured too close to his face. Red. He felt sick. The color red was making him nauseous. He could've warned the Captain it was going to happen. But even he was surprised at how quick a well-placed blow knocked the Captain out of his chair, unceremoniously on his butt. Onishi looked mutely down at him, then at Joe's increasing frustration, and calmly typed "Red", then speculated red bothered him. Yesterday he was calm though annoyed with them. Today they were in red, and the boy was agitated.

  
  


When his commander first got him aboard the Phoenix and he came to briefly; as soon as his cape wrapped around him for warmth, again he freaked. He signed to Joe, "Was the Jello red?" Joe looked at him. About time he paid attention. He nodded, but shrugged when asked "What?" He still didn't know, but he remembered red. That's all. 

  
  


Onishi typed all the data in along with a suggestion that they leave and question him again later wearing civvies. Surprised at the boy's speed and strength in that blow, the Captain decided retreat was the better part of valor and all that.

  
  


************

  
  


Ken looked at him asking "What's with the word red?" Joe looked over at him. Ken wasn't what you'd call an A student in sign either. That was Jun's forte. But, simple words like "red" were easy enough. He shrugged and signed to Jun, leaving the translating up to her. He felt strangely better now that they and their red suits were gone.

  
  


"Oh, so that's why! Next time we'll stick with green Jello. Whatever had attacked him was the color red, but that was as far as his memory goes."

  
  


Ken looked at Jun, puzzled. He thought about it for a bit. "So if a color is triggering one memory, maybe if we took you to the city where everything is disappearing, maybe something else will bring the rest of your memories back." 

  
  


Joe looked a little dubious. "The way I keep freaking out he's got to be kidding. In a life or death situation you don't need someone along who's going to crack." He was glad when Nambu voiced the same thought. 

  
  


Ken was insistent though. "I'll watch over him, but if we want to get to the bottom of things we need to speed up his memory now."

  
  


"K'so!" he thought. That's not what he wanted to hear, that or Nambu's, twenty-minute worth of debate later, giving the thumbs up on Ken's harebrained idea. "K'so!" He gave one particular universal sign to Ken with his finger that needed no translation. 

  
  


************

  
  


The Phoenix landed in the town that looked very deserted. Gone was the mob that gathered earlier that morning. Gone was the sheriff! Wherever he was, things were certainly no mystery to him now. The quiet was eerie. Joe looked at the cars that looked to have the same damage as his own. Still, there was a blank wall. Nothing triggered yet. But a spooky feeling purveyed especially standing in a ghost town.

  
  


Ken split them up into two groups. Ryu and Jun, and Jinpei, Joe, and himself. Normally, Joe would lead the second team, but under the circumstances…not an option.

  
  


They walked in home after home, shop after shop, without finding a clue. Finally, they ended up at the restaurant. Seeing nothing there, Ken left to check a few more places on his own. Whatever was here he'd said is long gone now.

  
  


Jinpei immediately began raiding the food. Joe shook his head at the kid's antics. He had an appetite that rivaled Ryu's sometimes. He himself didn't think he was ever going to eat until there was some kind of resolution to all this. He sat in a booth, absently toying with the salt and pepper shakers.

  
  


Keeping one eye on Jinpei, the other on the entire room. He glanced from corner to corner, looking again at the air conditioning vents. "Why do I keep doing that?" For some reason this restaurant unit wasn't working. It was hot in here. He felt sweat sting some of the few areas of his arms that hadn't healed yet. 

  
  


Some instinct inside him made him instantly alert. He couldn't lay his finger on it, but something suddenly gave him the creeps, as if the whole situation wasn't creepy enough anyway. He looked at Jinpei, who was happily downing a bowl of hastily assembled banana split, then slowly glanced up to the air conditioning vent. Maybe it was a trick of the eyes, but he could make out first shadowy movement, then red! Red tendrils were slowly oozing from the vent. He inhaled sharply. He could see the condensation drip from the coils, or what he thought was condensation. What splattered on the counter, behind Jinpei, sizzled and steamed.

  
  


Joe tried to find his voice, but couldn't. He tried to move but fear paralyzed him. Finally, from deep inside a powerful fear for the team's littlest member's safety prompted the voice hidden by shock. Floods of memories came in waves. The Galactor, their horrible deaths inside. It kept coming through the air conditioning ducts of his car. He screamed then. Finally he could scream again. "Jinpei!" 

  
  


Jinpei looked up, so surprised to hear Joe's voice after silence he nearly jumped off the counter. But that was it. He merely stood still, gaping at Joe. "You talked!" Joe found his legs and rushed the boy, moving him out of the way as huge sections of the creature suddenly burst through every duct in the room. Joe pulled Jinpei roughly along with him towards the restaurant's back. There bubbling up through yet another vent a good section of it blocked the rear exit. He pulled Jinpei left towards the freezer doors, where most of the meat was kept. Opening it and slamming it shut behind him, he pulled Jinpei back to the wall and held him there as the whole door began to push inward. Underneath the tendrils slipped through the minute crack between door and floor.

  
  


"Damn! Backed into a corner. Sorry Jinpei."

  
  


"What is it Aniki?"

  
  


"I don't know, but I saw it kill some Galactors. It was a horrible way to go. The thing eats people. Inside it digests them like an acid bath. It ate the bullets. It came for me. I don't know why it didn't get me. It left."

  
  


"You ok Aniki?"

  
  


"No, I'm scared to death."

  
  


"Me too."

  
  


"If it gets all the way in…" Joe pulled his gun, not the air gun, but the pistol, "…I won't let you die so terribly, so slowly kid."

  
  


He aimed the pistol under Jinpei's helmet, next to his head. Jinpei looked at the pistol and looked at the creature.

  
  


"It's ok Aniki, and arrigato."

  
  


Joe held him closed, braced for the very worst, when without explanation, it suddenly withdrew.

  
  


"What?…Where, where'd it go Aniki, and why?"

  
  


"I don't know. I think I remember. It did that twice, but I don't know. Some of it is still hazy. Let's get out of here. Real slow, in case it is just outside. We've got to warn the others."

  
  


"Joe, did it eat the whole town?"

  
  


"I don't know. Maybe…probably."

  
  


Slowly they edged their way out looking carefully around corners and at ceilings. It was thankfully gone, but where to? "Ken!"

  
  


Joe started running, then Jinpei, doing his best to keep up. There, backing from an immense red wall, the other three nearly bumped into the Phoenix, eyes wide open. Ken looked at them and yelled, "Retreat to the Phoenix, now!" 

  
  


They all flew to the top, hitting the hatch at the same time. Ryu barely got the engines started when it began to cover the ship.

  
  


"K'so!" All four, despite the movement, three in shock and one with an amused grin, turned to look at Joe. Jun broke the tense mood nonchalantly. "Finally he can speak, and his first words are those we really should wash his mouth out for!"

  
  


Jinpei excitedly yammered, "He remembers. He can talk! He saved my life, just in time!"

  
  


"Hell", said Ken, "we'll break out the champagne later, that is, if we're still alive."

  
  


All those besides Ryu, still standing, immediately took their seats, not exactly sure of what any of them might hope to accomplish. "Ryu, try to break away."

  
  


"Roger!"

  
  


He hit full thrusters, and nothing happened. "It's got us good."

  
  


Joe was the first to notice, because of late that's the first place his eyes would look towards. It was oozing through the vents. "It's coming in Ken!" His voice was thin, with very poorly disguised fear. 

  
  


Ken looked around and saw it also. He also sized up Joe. He was still, fingernails imbedded in the arms of his chair. "We're not going to panic. It's ok. As long as we still breathe there's still hope!"

  
  


Circuits began to smoke and sizzle as its acids dripped freely, while it pushed it's way steadily in. "Ken think fast! It's still coming!"

  
  


Ken watched the way Joe was breathing. We just got him back and we aren't going to lose him again! He got out of his seat and walked next to him, keeping one hand comfortingly on Joe's shoulder, calmly continuing to lead. "Jun, get those circuits doused in CO2 before the ship goes up in flames!"

  
  


"Ryu, theoretically speaking, can we achieve instant Phoenix effect from standstill?"

  
  


"Ken, that's dumb! No, as in duh, of course not!"

  
  


"K'so. All right, scan the outside. Do we have any opening to abandon ship from?"

  
  


"Big negative on that too! It's covering every square inch!"

  
  


Jun began spraying the initial small bursts of flame as they erupted from wherever that thing's acid touched. At one point the CO2 hit the creature itself. Only Joe noticed it recoil, and finally, the pieces fit like a jigsaw puzzle.

  
  


"The cold Ken." If he didn't say it so calmly, Ken might have thought he lost it again. "It hates the cold!" 

  
  


"What?"

  
  


Ken walked over to Jun and took the tank, spraying it at the nearest tendrils, satisfied at its sudden retreat.

  
  


"Ryu! Lower temperature and initiate CO2 freeze in cabin and onboard ship."

  
  


Ryu complied, and with a lurch it let go of the ship and recoiled backwards a healthy yard or two. 

  
  


"Good. Let's notify Nambu. Maybe he can come up with a permanent way to freeze this mold!"

  
  


Joe looked at him asking, "Can we call him from as high up and away from it as we can get?"

  
  


"Yea, that I think we can do."

  
  


************

  
  


Nambu summarily dispatched Red Impulse with actual freeze bombs. Once successfully frozen, the creature was jury rigged to a missile and quickly launched before it could melt into the iciest of all places, space. While shaken up, the young heroes were alive. Ken was optimistic that now the nameless creature has been uncovered in Joe's mind, that a full recovery was imminent. In the meantime, he had enough hospital stories to tease his second in command into better compliance with orders from now on!

  
  


THE END?


End file.
